I wonder whether AMC will skip a year in Mad Men time and go straight to 1967and the psychedelic era?

Breaking Bad is another favorite of mine. It lacks the quality and class of Mad Men, but it has some pretty amazing parts. The Walking Dead is good too. Thats all that I can think of for current television shows, but most of HBO's dramas are pretty amazing, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Carnivale, Rome, Deadwood, Oz (though the last few seasons were virtually unwatchable), so if you haven't seen any of those, it is a good time to catch up.

The first two were cut short because of the relative expense in recreating past eras. This is partly why I am a bit fearful that Boardwalk Empire might share the same fate.

Rubicon was another show that I lament its premature passing.

I have to admit I have resisted Six Feet Under and Oz despite rave recommendations as the premises of these shows didn't interest me. Although I have to admit I said the same about Dexter and Nurse Jackie and now they are on my must see lists.

In the meantime I am watching Band Of Brothers first time round and will watch the Pacific after that. Very good and authentic.

I know you said Breaking Bad is a favorite, Garth, so I don't want to be too hard on you, but I disagree strongly that Breaking Bad "lacks the quality and class of Mad Men." I guess class is debatable, depending on what exactly you mean by it, but as far as quality, Breaking Bad has been getting better and better as time goes by, while Mad Men has become more flawed. I enjoyed a lot of the last two seasons of Mad Men, but they were both disappointing to me in ways; that is not at all true of Breaking Bad.

Anyway, just wanted to get that out there. As far as other programs worth watching, it's not quite in the league of most of the other shows being talked about in this thread, but Justified is very good, and features great guest stars on a pretty much weekly basis.

Yeah, most the things I said were all debatable and a matter of taste. But don't worry about being hard on me. I have no part in the production of any television shows ;-) I guess Breaking Bad just started to annoy me a bit with the finale of the second season, the last couple of minutes in particular (if you are a viewer you know what I am talking about). I fluctuate back and forth on if it was an amazing choice or if it was an over-the-top choice to illustrate the repercussions of Walt & Jesse. After that I just got frustrated with Walt and Jesse, and I was less easily able to relate to either character. One could argue that is the complete point of the show, to watch the descent of Walt. But it takes me out of the series. HOWEVER, adding Bob Odenkirk as Sal Goodman gave the show some vitality that I absolutely love. He is amazing in that role.

Sounds like the negotiations between Weiner and AMC are going along as badly as they could be. They've even mentioned possibility of cancelling the show entirely, although I couldn't possibly see that happening.

This is the kind of shit that really keeps me from watching dramas as they air. Why invest the time in a season or two of a great show, only to see it fall apart or get cancelled? I just bought the first three seasons of Mad Men because they were on sale for $15 each and I figured it was time to make our way through them. Now it looks like it might end up being one of those "It was great up until the ____ season" shows.

I wonder why he went with AMC in the first place, other than the possibility that the network offered more money. Terence Winter had the good sense to stay where he could make a show like Boardwalk Empire, which either couldn't air on cable, or would be severely neutered. Shit, it seems like Winter also kept some of the best directors from the Sopranos as well. Tim Van Patten, Alan Taylor, Allen Coulter...it's a shame Patterson's dead.